How to configure and use Windows Live Writer for blogging

Microsoft Windows Live Writer tool, is specifically designed for bloggers – both beginners and experienced, including support for WordPress and Blogger blogs. Read this tutorial to learn how to configure your blog in Live Writer and so to have a blogging tool that is easy to use and incorporate features useful to start in the wonderful world of blogging.

Presentation

First, one question comes to mind: why use a blogging software for blogging?

To this, several answers come to mind and are at least, justified:

• This tool is very useful for blogging from desktop;
• Handy when the Internet connection is slow or it does not have access to Internet;
• Saves the articles on the hard drive of your PC for drafts;
• Offers an alternate editor and provide assistance directed for insertion of photo galleries, maps, videos, etc. which often require an additional plugin in WordPress (TinyMCE for example);

We must nonetheless recognize that Microsoft has made serious efforts on this program through Live Writer and it may be easier to use for novice bloggers. Moreover, it is free.

We will see how to set up a WordPress account in this tutorial.

Setting up an account in Windows Live Writer for WordPress

Start by downloading the Windows Live suite, which includes other Live services, you can select the programs you want.

Once downloaded, run the installation process and be sure to select Windows Live Writer in the range of proposed applications.

Once installed, click the Start button and type “Live Writer” (without the quotation marks) in the search field.

Launch the application. A first use wizard will appear:

Then click Next. A second screen asks us what service we want to use – in this case it is WordPress:

In case of Blogger, select “Others” (as it is not in the list.)

Fill the login fields to your blog. Enter the URL of your blog; your WordPress default Username and password.

Now click on Next. Wait a few minutes, the time to establish a connection to your blog.

Note: For self hosted WordPress (that means .org) users, who have chopped out detecting the platform type by any method (very good to do this for security purpose; we have already discussed in WordPress Weblogs Tips section of this website); they need to use “others” and then to put the url, username, password etc then WLW will ask to put the xml prc url. If you do not know what it is; simply open your blog’s homepage, view the source code and you will get it.

A dialog box will appear asking if you want to publish a temporary post in order to generate an overview of your items according to your design.

Finally, it remains for us to give a nickname to your site – although the official name is automatically detected. To confirm, click Finish:

Congratulations! You now have  configured the software capable writing posts in a WYSWYG editor (What You See What You Get ) and featuring most of the functionality of conventional blogging. With that, then good blogging!